Please note the tour price reflected on the brochure is subject to change. Due to seasonality, and taxes prices of the tour are subject to change without due notice. Please consult with the operator directly for the recent price.
Highlights of Scotland by Rail
Preferred
Overview
Highlights (Bullets)
- Enjoy scenic views of the city from Edinburgh Castle, which sits perched atop an extinct volcano.
- Pay a visit to Scotland's oldest pub, the Sheep Heid Inn in Edinburgh!
- Enjoy breathtaking views of the Scottish countryside as you ride the rail from city to city.
- Embark on a quest for Nessie during your special Loch Ness river tour.
- Treat yourself to a sampling of Scotland's famous spirit: Scotch!
Short Description
Adventure through Scotland's most popular cities with this 7- or 10-night vacation! Make your way from city to city on the Scottish Rail, then enjoy unique tours at each of your destinations.
Attractions & Cities Visited
Edinburgh Glasgow Inverness Loch Ness National Museum of Scotland Palace of Holyroodhouse Vatican CityItinerary
Day 1: Welcome to Edinburgh!
Accommodation: Principal Edinburgh George Street
Arrive at Edinburgh Airport (EDI) and enjoy a private airport transfer to your Edinburgh accommodation, the Jurys Inn. The rest of your day can be spent at leisure.
Transfer from EDI Airport to Edinburgh hotel
Day 2: Edinburgh
Start using your Royal Tour ticket today! You’ll receive 48-hour unlimited access to four city tours. Consider hopping on the Edinburgh tour today; you'll make stops at the National Museum of Scotland, Scottish Parliament, Old town and more. Be sure to hop off at the Edinburgh Castle and Palace of Holyroodhouse stops so you can take advantage of your included fast-track access.
Royal Edinburgh Ticket
This unique value-added tour ticket is all you need to explore and experience the royal splendors of Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city! You’ll receive 48-hour unlimited access to four city tours, as well as fast-track admission to Edinburgh Castle (the city’s most famous attraction), The Palace of Holyroodhouse (The Queen’s official residence in Scotland) and The Royal Yacht Brittania (The Queen’s floating Royal residence).
Tours Included with Your Ticket:
The Edinburgh Tour- with a live English-speaking guide, and stops including Edinburgh Castle, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Old Town, New Town, National Museum of Scotland and Scottish Parliament.
City Sightseeing Tour- entertaining and informative commentary, along with a “Horrible Histories” commentary for kids. Highlights include Edinburgh Castle, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Old Town, New Town, National Museum of Scotland, Our Dynamic Earth and Calton Hill.
Majestic Tour- Enjoy an entertaining and informative commentary as you are guided through the history of Edinburgh’s people, places and sights along the route. Highlights include the Royal Yacht Britannia, Royal Botanic Garden, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Old Town and Scottish Parliament.
Day 3: Edinburgh
Choose another included sightseeing bus tour or two today! Be sure to leave time for exploring the Royal Yacht Brittania, the Queen's former floating residence.
You may also want to spend some time exploring the city's Georgian-era New Town today. Admire the well-preserved 18th and 19th-century neoclassical and Georgian-style architecture as you walk along the broad streets. You'll also want to walk along the famous Princes Street, where you can do a bit of shopping or admire the famous Gothic monument to Sir Walter Scott.
Day 4: Edinburgh - Inverness
Accommodation: Mercure Inverness Hotel
After a ride on the Scottish rail, arrive in Inverness! Once settled, take a walk along the River Ness over to Inverness Castle for picturesque riverside views.
Train to Inverness!
Day 5: Inverness
Discover Inverness on your own, then enjoy your special Loch Ness cruise! No visit to the Scottish Highlands is complete without a tour of this world-famous landmark, which is overflowing with fascinating myths, turbulent history, and tales of a legendary monster.
Jacobite Temptation Loch Ness Cruise & Urquhart Castle Tour
Loch Ness is simply overflowing with fascinating myths, turbulent history and tales of a legendary monster. No visit to the Scottish Highlands is complete without a tour of this world-famous landmark! This 2.5 hour Temptation Loch Ness cruise and tour will take you on a journey of discovery, as you soak up the scenery, historic monuments and intriguing tales surrounding our mysterious monster.
Explore ancient Urquhart Castle and the Caledonian Canal in the heart of Scotland's Great Glen. Enjoy a relaxing, guided coach tour, where you will learn about the history, myths and legends, followed by a 30-minute cruise on the awe-inspiring waters of Loch Ness, and an hour exploring the intriguing ruins and turbulent history of Urquhart Castle. Tour meets at Inverness Bus Station at 1:45pm for a 2:00pm departure.
Day 6: Inverness - Glasgow
Accommodation: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Glasgow Central
Enjoy one more train ride over to Glasgow, Scotland's cultural capital today. Start your Glasgow adventure off by touring the breathtaking City Chambers, which is actually comprised of more marble than there is in the whole of Italy's Vatican City!
A Tip For Your Trip: Tours of the City Chamber are free and take place daily.
Train to Glasgow!
Day 7: Glasgow
Explore the city with help from your included sightseeing bus pass today! From the top deck of the tour bus you will enjoy sweeping views of the beautiful landscapes and exceptional architecture that this city has to offer - from famous art galleries and museums to attractive parks. Consider taking one full loop to first enjoy the audio tours, including a special Ghoulish Glasgow channel for children!
Visit the famous Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, home to artworks from many European masters, from Monet to Van Gogh to Rembrandt. Those with a taste for the performing arts may want to catch a show at the Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, or National Theater of Scotland.
A Tip For Your Trip: The full loop of the sightseeing bus takes approximately 105 minutes.
Glasgow City Sightseeing Hop-on/Hop-off Bus Tour (1 Day)
Experience vibrant Glasgow from the top deck of a tour bus! Explore famous art galleries and museums, hop off at picturesque parks, or enjoy the full-loop on the bus and enjoy the audio tours, including a special Ghoulish Glasgow channel for children! The hop-on/hop-off bus tours provide entertaining and colorful insight into Glasgow’s past and present. The full loop takes approximately 105 minutes - however you can hop on and off wherever and whenever you'd like, along the way.
Day 8: Depart Scotland
Your Scotland adventure comes to an end today. Enjoy a private transfer from your hotel to the airport in accordance with your departure flight.
Transfer from Glascow hotel to GLA Airport
Fly home!
Availability
18,296 Great Value Vacations Travel Reviews & Ratings
Highlights of Scotland by Rail
Company Reviews
Most organized and easy to use site!
Good value and ligit package.
I love discounted and the reservation…
Too many flight changes
So was adequate, but took away from the enjoyment
We had an amazing time in Iceland
WARNING!
This company seems like the right choice based on price. BEWARE! DO NOT USE! They are not helpful prior to trip. They mislead you when you speak with customer service. We took a trip to Ireland and were told by customer service that the hotel was in Sligo and Cork after asking prior to our trip. When we arrived, the hotels were both over one hour out in very small towns. This is one hour to the city we were told we were going to by customer service and one hour back.
The rental car we got prior to trip with our package, we paid to upgrade to a larger car. Then we paid extra to have an automatic car. When we arrived, we were told that we could have paid much less by just doing it onsite at Dublin airport. The car rental was in shock for how much Great Value charged us for the car rental.
You can save a lot of money if you book this Ireland trip on your own. And save many headaches. The kicker to all of this is when I got home and tried to speak with customer service. The lady told me she could not do anything to help me. I must instead email a supervisor. I did have email communication with GVV and they were quite snappy and rude. They refused to help me in any way. I asked them to change their wording so that the next customer would not be misled like we were. I would NEVER recommend nor use this company. There are too many reputable tour groups out there.
Please don't waste your money on a company that does not care about you.
**Edited**
In response to the reply that GVV gave to my negative review.
It is pleasing to see how quickly you can reply to a negative review. If only you were so quick to respond to my queries prior to my trip.
To begin, my review is public. However, it is NOT OK to include my name when replying to a review when the name was not included by me in my review of you.
Next, when responding to my review you must be truthful. For you to say: "We are not surprised to receive this review as we did not agree to your request for a cash refund in exchange for you not posting a negative review." is false. In my initial phone call to customer service I was told to tell you what I wanted. Since you never asked, in my email communication toy I stated "I will be happy to complete your survey with my negative concerns and complete multiple reviews on your company if you choose to not correct this grand misleading mistake. I do not want to receive a discount for a future trip. I believe some money back to me is fair due to the amount of gas money and time I lost for travel due to the poor locations of the hotels."
I did not say I was disappointed with the hotels in Cork and Sligo. I said I was angered that I was misled by customer service prior to my trip when they did not inform me the distance to the cities on the tour. I asked if they were centrally located and was told that they were. Again, when I arrived, I discovered that they were over two hours round trip, without traffic. My initial communication to you was to inform that this was misleading. Your company seemed to be defensive of my comments from the start.
I called customer service before the trip because you switched my hotel in Dublin. My original hotel was one 45 minutes away from the city. You switched me to a hotel that was in Dublin after finding the original hotel was unable to host us. The new hotel in the city was centrally located. Great news. But the closest parking garage was 3/4 mile away. Perhaps you could suggest a hotel in the future that has closer parking so that when your flight is at 7am one does not need to walk the streets of Dublin at 5am.
My complaint to you is the absolute disdain and lack of concern that you have for customers after the trip. Even after my trip was booked I was unsuccessful at receiving any positive support.
I do not want this communication to continue. You are trying to prove your point as I am mine. But keep in mind, you should not use the name of the consumer if they did not disclose first themselves. Please check
in house legal for affirmation. Also, please be accurate and truthful when disclosing your side.
Just as you had to get the last word to our email thread by sarcastically stating "dully noted".
Your lack of professionalism speaks volumes. Perhaps this is why you get so many complaints and low stars on your reviews.
Details
Flight & Transport Inclusions
Roundtrip air to/from trip start & all internal transport
Group Size
Intimate Group - 12 max
Trip ID#:
greatvaluevacations-PK-GC4P-SH-HOSR-EDI
We respect your privacy and take great care to protect your information. By clicking «Send my questions» you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. An account will be created for you to track your submission and a temporary password will be emailed to you.
×
You can access members-only savings of up to $700 on over 6,000 Travelstride Select trips.
Sign in to see trip eligibility
With your FREE membership you get to:
- Save up to $700 per person!*
- Access private deals and offers
- See personalized trip recommendations
- Save favorite trips
We respect your privacy and take great care to protect your information. By joining you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
You could save $ 300 per person on this trip!
